


one step closer (to the light)

by cyclothimic



Series: cold bones [7]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Tragedy, Assisted Suicide, Character Death, Established Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Express Prompt, F/F, Friendship, Gen, Kara Danvers Needs a Hug, Kara is just tired, Married Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Retirement, Romance, Time Travel, Tissue Warning, Tragedy, Wheeeee, everyone's dead, someone wrote a book about kara and lena
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-10 02:07:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16461413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyclothimic/pseuds/cyclothimic
Summary: prompt: you did one from lenas perspective start to finish, but can you write one of kara's death? it would be neat if she sees lena in her final moments-"Your relationship with Lena became something of history," Winn told her. "Someone even wrote a dissertation about how your relationship played into the betterment of National City and published it.""Shut. Up."-or Kara Danvers retires from her Supergirl days and decides it's time for her to join her loved ones.





	one step closer (to the light)

**Author's Note:**

> heh, someone caffeinated me, i had no choice - also, i really liked this prompt, so :P this is for whatiwork4 on tumblr, thank you for caffeinating me :)
> 
> now, read, ponder, and...bawl?

_Even underneath the waves,_

_I'll be holding on to you._

_And even if you slip away,_

_I'll be there to fall into the dark._

- _Eric Arjes, Find My Way Back_

* * *

Five years after everyone she treasured and loved had each gone their way, National City's resident superhero decided that it was time for retirement. The only reason she gave them was that she had been a constant present for sixty years and it was time to let other heroes shine, namely Dreamer. After all, with the Alien Amnesty Act gaining more than enough traction with her support and the L-Corp's monthly endorsements, she supposed she had done her job.

What she didn't tell them was that she truly had no reason to stay anymore.

Twenty years after the CEO of L-Corp succumbed to the powers of pancreatic cancer, James suffered a bigger injury than he could handle, and a hemorrhage in the operating theatre was all it took. Cat Grant came back to retake the reins, but she had also been ageing and not more than ten years later, the woman had allowed nature to take its course, handing the reins over to Kara. And then at the age of seventy-six, Alex took her last breath in the middle of her sleep, with Kara sitting right next to her and holding her hand. Two days after that, Maggie was gone too; they said it was the heartbreak syndrome, and Kara really believed that. J'onn gave her a hug and told her that it was time for him to go back to where he belonged.

After Lena, after the death of the one person who made her feel worthy and gave her true motivation to keep the world safe to make sure she and her wife had time to enjoy the world, she had only stayed for these people. For her sister. For her mentor. For her family.

And when they had gone, there was no point to her remaining here anyway. She gave the people of National City one last wave with a genuinely relaxed smile and walked off stage. She took a deep breath, and for the first time in  _decades_ , it felt like a true breath. Like her lungs could finally register the acceptance and expel of air pockets. She didn't feel so heavy anymore.

"Are you sure?" Nia asked as she held on to the cape.

Kara nodded, placing a couple of more shirts into the carry-on and zipping it up. "Yeah, keep it. I don't need it anymore." She offered her apprentice a smile and extended an arm towards her, pulling the girl that she had watched grow into her confidence since that time they met in the elevator. "I got Winn to set up a communication portal with you, so you don't have to worry about being helpless. And the DEO's in good hands; they can help you too."

"I'm gonna miss you."

"Me too, but…it's time for me."

They drew away from each other and she saw Nia blink away the tears welling up in her eyes. "They'll let me know?"

"They'll let you know," Kara confirmed.

"But it won't be soon, right?"

"No." Kara held up her passport and shrugged. "I promised someone once that I'd travel the world with her."

In her head, she could still hear the sleepy voice, telling her of a wish of traveling around the world with the love of her life. Kara had made a promise that she would make it happen. Except she barely had time to make good on it before the universe decided to take her wife away.

Nia watched her with sad eyes. She had never met the woman who took hold of Kara's heart and never gave it back, not even when she died. But she had read many things about Lena Luthor, heard about the woman a fair amount of times from Alex Danvers and her peers. Kara rarely ever talked about her, and Nia never pushed.

"I'm not sure I'm ready for this," Nia tried in a valiant attempt to keep the blonde with her.

Kara trained her eyes on her apprentice for a few moments. "You know, I didn't think I was ready either, but then Alex got caught in a crisis and I had to save her. And that's how I got into this business. Even then, there were times when I thought I wasn't ready," she said, clamping a hand on Nia's shoulder. "You can never be fully ready, but you should do it anyway. Remember what I said?"

Nia laughed a little. "Acknowledge the fear."

"Then kick its ass," they said together.

Since her transition from a Kryptonian in hiding to an actual superhero, Kara Danvers had had to worry about a lot of things. But as she looked at the superhero that she singlehandedly trained and almost raised, she knew this was the one thing she wouldn't have to worry about.

* * *

Five bouquets of flowers for five of the most important people in her life. The woman who gladly took her in and raised her to be the best human she could be, the woman who became her best friend and the best support system anyone could ask for, the woman who made her sister so happy, the man with who was one of her big loves, and the love of her life – they all had flowers.

She put down the flowers at their respective graves and talked to each one of them. Telling them about her plans and promising that she would see them soon. Still, she didn't forget to tell them she missed them.

* * *

The people at the hotel she had chosen to stay in Brazil were very accommodating and even offered to let her stay for free. She had booked for a regular room facing the lake, but when she got there, she found that they had upgraded her to an executive penthouse on the top floor with full monopoly of the roof with windows that overlook the entire city and a full-fledged bar stored with the most expensive wine choices in the market.

Sure, Kara had made enough money over the years to live comfortably, but if she was to travel the world, she wouldn't be able to afford this penthouse. The funds that Lena had left her hadn't been touched in years. In Kara's will, she had explicitly stated that those funds would be donated to the charities that Lena had endorsed when she had been alive.

When Kara asked to be downgraded back to the room she had initially booked, citing her inability to pay for the room, the concierge had just told her that all was dealt with and she didn't have to pay a single cent. Kara asked who dealt with what and what the hell was happening, the concierge just shrugged and said that the owner of the hotel chain had requested for a dinner with him that night.

"In his email, he explicitly said that you are at the full liberty to say no, and we will still accommodate you in the penthouse for the duration of your stay in Paris," the concierge said.

It wasn't as if Kara had to be afraid of stranger danger, so she said yes just so she could see who would do such a thing and give out a goddamn penthouse for  _free_.

That night, she showed up at the in-house restaurant and found herself led to a private room, where there was a man in his late fifties, dressed in a black suit and resembled nothing like the run-of-the-mill white male creeps that she was used to arresting back in her heydays.

"Mrs. Danvers-Luthor," the man greeted.

Kara did a double take, hesitating in shaking his hand. She wondered if people were still after her even when she had retired. She wondered if he used to be Lillian Luthor's henchman, or maybe an accomplice. How did he even know that last name?

"My name is Lucas Johnson. I'm sure you're wondering why you're the recipient of a premium treatment in my hotel today," he said. When she nodded, he just offered a kind smile and gestured at the seat opposite him. She sat down and they waited for the waiter to pour them some wine before he requested for them two to be left alone. "Your wife put me through school my whole life. Funded my lodgings. Gave me food and clothes on my back. Even left me enough cash after I graduated Harvard to get on my feet."

Kara's eyes had gone wide as saucers at the end of his revelation.

"Lena talked about you all the time," he offered with a kind smile. "She loved you  _very much_."

Her heart wringed. She smiled gratefully when a waiter came in with their food and then left again. But she didn't have the appetite as she stared at the pot stickers and rice and chow mein in front of her. She never would have imagined that these would be on the menu in a hotel of such caliber.

"I remember Lena once telling me that your favorite food was the Chinese takeout down the street from your old apartment. I'm not sure if we did it justice, but I'm sure our chef tried."

Kara could only gape at the man who still seemed so mysterious and yet carried no sign of malevolence in his eyes as he looked at her across the table.

"Ho – How?" she stuttered.

He clasped his hands on the table and sighed. "I'm not surprised she didn't tell you – she's always been very low-key about her charitable acts." Kara stared at the grown man in front of her, thinking about how Lena played a part in this handsome man's growth and success. "I was one of the kids at the children's hospital – my heart had never worked right. My family wasn't very well-off back then, and Lena helped out with that. But even after I got out of the hospital, she continued to help me with school stuff, hiring private tutors and making sure my home was running properly. She was basically like a second mother to me."

In her head, Kara was wondering how many other kids there were. She had no doubt there were other young women and men out there, who had grown up simply because Lena thought them deserving. Probably making waves and creating tsunamis in their own way.

She surveyed Lucas sitting opposite her, taking in his suit and the neatness of his appearance. "She showed you my picture?" she pointed out.

"I know you technically 'died' a couple of years ago," Lucas said. Kara's eyes couldn't go wider. "But I put it together. Lena used to talk about how awesome Supergirl was and how grateful she was that Kara Danvers was in her life. It was a guess at first, but I saw a Luthor in the register today and I thought I could try my luck. When you didn't deny it, I knew I was right."

"Please don't –"

"I won't tell anyone." He sighed, the smile on his face slowly dissipating, replaced by a somber look. "I'm just here today because I never got to properly thank Lena. I figured this is the least I could do." He waved his hand around. "And I couldn't let you go without letting you know that your wife pretty much saved my life."

For the next two hours, Kara forced down the lump that had balled up in her throat and emotions making physical appearances in her eyes. She got to know this man who physically seemed older than her, but was considerably younger than her in so many ways. And all the while, she couldn't be prouder that her wife chose a good one.

* * *

Turned out Lucas Johnson wasn't the only one. Turned out there were more all over the world. Somehow, they managed to find her, one by one, showing up at her hotel or just buying her a drink in a random restaurant. They all shook her hand.

Most of them bought the excuse that she was Lena's secret daughter with Kara Danvers and told her that she should be very proud of her mother. Some of them saw through her disguise and promised that her secret was safe and they just wanted to see the last living remnant of Lena Luthor before she went away as well.

She didn't know how they found her – she suspected Winn probably had something to do with it, doing his thing in the future – but she was always grateful that they showed up. She thought she had lost Lena forever. She thought the only things left of Lena were her company, her hospital, her charities, the statue they had built of her on the other side of the avenue, and the grave. But these people of all ages, showing up at her door and telling her about Lena's kindness, they were the best gifts to her before she went.

There was Georgia from Ireland. A girl whose parents had died in a freak accident and had a knack with math. Lena sent her to her old boarding school and introduced Georgia to her favorite math professor at Yale when she took a summer course there.

There was De Ming from China. A boy who had to sleep next to garbage cans and stole from Lena's purse on a business visit. Instead of punishing him, she bought him clothes, gave him food, and let him stay at a standard room during her stay there. When she had to leave, she found him a pair of kind and nice adopted parents who couldn't have children of their own and regularly sent money so he wouldn't have to go back to his thieving days.

There was Hukayman from Afghanistan. A girl who was almost subjected to whipping in public because she accidentally told a religious friend about her sexuality. Lena read it through the news and decided to sneak her out by hiring private military contractors. Hukayman was relocated in Switzerland and provided adequate education that she now ran her own security company.

There was Pong Ju from North Korea. A boy who narrowly escaped from concentration camp by sheer luck and crossed the similarly cruel Chinese borders to Mongolia. Lena only found him because of a friend who visited Mongolia for business and asked her if she could do something for him. She arranged him for him to go to Argentina and had people look after him.

There was Iyawa from Nigeria. A girl whose village that Lena had practically saved by sending over doctors and medical supplies, offering as much clean water as she could and buying plane tickets for those who wished for better future for their children. Iyawa was one of those children who was put on a plane to the US and put in Yale on an anonymous scholarship to pursue her chemistry dreams.

Kara met all of them. Had meals with them. Had drinks with them. Listened to their stories. And felt her heart beat and beat and beat because her wife had left remarkable marks in the world in these children who were leaving their own marks.

She couldn't miss Lena more.

* * *

The familiar noise of a breach tore through the silence of a warm Malaysian night as she sat on the balcony to listen to the sounds of the sea. She looked back over her shoulder to see Barry, Felicity, and Sara coming her way and joining her on the balcony. They looked as young as ever. Kara deduced that Sara had taken them on the ship and Barry had used the extrapolator to be here.

Felicity took a seat on the recliner next to her, grimacing when her back moved the wrong way. The other three didn't say anything. Somehow, the blonde tech genius had become one of the closest friends from Earth-1. Kara had oftentimes taken the woman up on her invitation and showed up on that Earth just to have some awesome chocolate chip cookies. She supposed she found comfort in Felicity's quirks and ability to pick up on someone's mood without them having said a word.

"What are you guys doing here?" she asked, not hiding her surprise and happiness to see her – literally – otherworldly friends.

"We subscribe to CatCo Magazine," Barry said with a sheepish smile.

"On Earth-1?"

"Felicity and Cisco worked their magic."

"Ah," Kara said in lament. "Still doesn't explain what you're doing here." To be fair, she was like…decades ahead of them.

Sara snorted and somehow brandished a six-pack of Heinekens from Rao only knew where. She placed it on the table between Kara and Felicity and dug out a bottle opener from her jacket pocket. "You didn't really think we'd just let you retire like that, did you?"

"I –" She scratched at her temple with one hand and absentmindedly lifted a bottle of beer to her lips. "I went to all of your funerals."

Felicity died because the chip in her back stopped working when she turned fifty, and the atrophy started to spread throughout her entire body, reaching the most valuable part of her last. Sara died because time travel took too much of a toll and her body couldn't handle the extra cabin pressure anymore. Barry…well, they buried an empty casket – Barry went missing and never came back.

"Yeah, Gideon told us," Sara said with a grateful smile. "We figured we could…pay you the same respect."

"I'm not –"

"We know," Felicity interjected. "Which is why we're here. To be here with you and make sure you know that you still have friends, even though we came from the past and another Earth and you are very far away in the future." She tilted her head back in the chair and Kara watched the way her body worked, thinking about what a pity it would be that she wouldn't be able to move like that in her future. "I've always wanted to travel to Malaysia. And now I can. Your ship might be useful, after all, Sara."

Sara made an affronted expression, hand to chest and all that. "Excuse me, my ship saved you people from an actual demon."

"You released the demon."

"We –" Sara shut her mouth, quietly drinking from her bottle.

"We couldn't bring everyone here, but Team Flash says hello," Barry said.

Felicity hummed with narrowed eyes. "Oliver kind of grunted and then told me to tell you that you did good." The rest of them snorted, having gotten used to the archer's briskness with everyone except his family. "Diggle still hadn't really gotten over the fact that you can…do the things you do. But on behalf of my emotionally stunted teammates, I wanna say that we will never forget you. Especially considering that we will, technically, still see you."

"This six-pack is from my team." Sara held her own bottle up in the air. "So don't say we don't do things for you."

Kara snorted and lifted her own bottle in a half-hearted salute. It wasn't alien alcohol, certainly couldn't get her piss-drunk. But it would do.

"And hey," Barry said, sitting down beside Kara's recliner and placing his hand on top of Kara's on her thigh. "I'm happy for you." She frowned, not really understanding what he meant. "This –" He gestured his hand around, not at anything in particular "– will end soon. You get to go wherever Kryptonians go. You get to let go. You get to have peace, finally."

At his words, Kara's eyes welled up and she had to rapidly blink to stop any unwanted overflowing. She looked down and overturned her hand to clasp their fingers together. His hand was calloused, big, the tendons a little too obvious.

"I miss her so much," she whispered, breath trembling as she spoke the words.

"You know, I told the Lena from my Earth about your retirement," the speedster said, a fond smile on his face. "And she told me to tell you that if your Lena is anything like her, there is no way in hell she'd just  _go_  without you with her."

Kara laughed, remembering the time when she encountered Lena's doppelganger on Earth-1. They had several encounters since. Apparently, Team Flash had started to look for that Lena's help whenever they faced problems that they absolutely couldn't solve, and she had practically become an honorary member.

The blonde had never grown to be fully comfortable with Earth-1 Lena, but she was nice and kind, accommodating and understanding. They were cordial with one another whenever they ran into each other. Kara's heart had stopped feeling like ripping apart after the third time they saw each other. At one point, they even got to joke around and act almost like friends.

If she hadn't become a widow as a result of her Lena's death, maybe she and Earth-1 Lena would have been friends.

"Going to Ireland soon?" Felicity asked.

Kara looked at the woman who had accompanied her for the whole night after Lena's funeral. The woman who had listened to her proposal story to Lena and told her about herself dealing with Oliver's almost death. The woman who had offered deep seeded friendship even though she didn't really need to.

"It's actually my last leg," Kara said.

"Well," Felicity breathed, smiling shakily. "Cheers to that."

The clink that rang out through the night was symbolical, she was certain.

* * *

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the girl who looked so affronted when I asked if she was a lesbian."

Kara snorted and whirled around to find Winn sitting at a very technologically innovative looking station. He was grinning, and it looked genuine. The laugh lines at the edges of his eyes had grown more distinct, deeper. There was a slowness to his movement, no longer as excited as he used to be, but the gentleness looked good. The future had done him a lot of good.

She looked around her, taking in the DEO headquarters twelve thousand years in the future. The DEO of the 31st century, ran by the one and only Winslow Schott Jr. Usually, the Director of DEO had their own office, but Alex had always preferred her trusty laboratory and it seemed now that Winn had gotten a little too attached to his station that he chose to set up office right in the middle of the lobby.

"I'm not, you know," she said, approaching him and wrapping her arms around one of her best friends. "Very bisexual."

He laughed and did not let her go for a prolonged moment. "More like Lena-sexual," he commented.

She knew he meant it as a joke and she got the joke, but still, four decades could only do so much to soothe the ache in her chest. Drawing back, she clicked her tongue with an indulgent smile, while he stared back at her sympathetically.

Winn didn't ask why she was here; he knew exactly why she was here. They had an appointment made way back when he showed up for Alex's funeral. He promised he would make it happen, and now here she was to make sure he would make good on that promise.

"You sure you want to do this?" he asked again.

Jaw clenched, Kara shoved her hands in her back pockets and nodded. "There's – Nia's got everything under control."

"Yes, she does," he confirmed.

She blinked a few times, and then displayed a grateful smile. "Tell her I'm proud of her."

"Hey, how about I bring you for a tour?" He pushed away from the edge of the station. The sudden movement accidentally toppled over a glass T-Rex figurine. Winn yelped, his voice torn with unadulterated concern. She snorted and rescued it before it was unsalvageable. "Oh, thank you, Supergirl. You are effervescent," he gasped, gingerly picking it from her hands and replacing it where it belonged. "Anyway, what do you say?"

"I thought I'm not supposed to –"

He patted her on her arm and started walking towards the exit, expecting her to follow him. "You can't do much damage now, can you?" He cocked his head, his smile all sorts of melancholy under the sun. "Besides, there's a couple of things I wanna show you. I thought they could…give you some peace."

She pondered his musings and thought that he couldn't be wrong. Her presence wouldn't be recorded – Winn knew better than to commemorate her visit – and it would only be one day. Hence, she nodded her head in acquiescence and motioned for him to lead the way, laughing when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and started skipping.

* * *

Eyes wide and heart pumping, Kara could do nothing but study the statues towering over her with disbelief and ludicrousness. Once upon a time, twelve thousand years ago, there sat exactly one statue at this exact location – the one of Supergirl that Lena Luthor had built for her, long before their marriage, long before their get-together, long before the event that almost tore them apart.

Today, there sat two statues. Long gone was the Supergirl likeness that seemed to defy all laws of physics. In its place was a statue of Kara Danvers holding a notebook and a pen, the House of El code of arms still emblazoned on her chest. Beside that statue was a statue that resembled Lena Luthor, concentrating on a beaker while holding a tablet in another arm. Underneath those statues was a plaque that said 'National City's Unsung Heroes'.

She whirled around on Winn; she would have been pissed off if it wasn't for the lingering shock. "Did you do this?"

He smiled and shook his head. "No," he denied. "I came and there you were. Larger than life. Watching over us commoners." He took her hand and brought her to a nearby bench that faced the statues. "I looked over the records and I found out exactly how they discovered your identity. I can't tell you though," he added with a wince.

"Winn, I can't be out here," she whispered with vehemence, realizing that she looked exactly like the statue and people would see it.

"Oh, no worries, the image inducer is doing all the work for us."

"What? But I'm not wearing the image inducer," she said, frowning.

"I made some improvements. Simply put, I installed the software into the DEO system and now wherever we go, it'll pick up on your data and create an illusion to the rest of the world except for us in the DEO."

She relaxed back on the bench and stared at their statues, she and her wife standing next to each other. A little girl on a neon green tricycle approached the statues and lifted her head to take in the figures that could be considered gigantic in comparison to a human her age. Kara couldn't help but smile when the little girl's lips split into wide grin, eyes filled with awe and admiration.

"Your relationship with Lena became something of history," Winn told her. "Someone even wrote a dissertation about how your relationship played into the betterment of National City and published it."

"Shut. Up."

He snorted, shoulders shaking with laughter. "I'm not even kidding. I've got a few copies back at the DEO. You can grab one later."

Her eyes returned to the statues that she never would have fathomed to be a reality even if she had chosen to stay.

People had apparently known that their beloved Kryptonian superhero was no one other than a simple reporter hiding behind a pair of glasses and ponytails. Not only so, they also knew that Kara had decided gotten married to someone whose family was, arguably, any alien's worst enemies.

And they had built  _statues_ in commemoration of the truth.

Maybe humanity had progressed. Only took them thousands of years, but progress was progress.

* * *

Winn brought her to the lab and showed her the briefcase containing a singular syringe, filled to the brim with liquidated Kryptonite. Funnily enough, the syringe was right next to her, but she didn't feel any sort of pain or discomfort. As a matter of fact, looking at it made her realize that it was all happening, and the peace that encapsulated her had been one that she hadn't felt in a long time.

It was time.

"You know, when I looked through the records to see how Supergirl died," Winn said, picking up the syringe with a forced grimace on his face, "I knew that I would play a part in it." He sniffled and one blink later, his eyes were wet.

It was that look on his face that made her realize that perhaps it had been unfair of her to ask him to do this. And yet, there was no one else she trusted enough to do it. To understand her desperate need for tranquility and quiet after so many years of fighting alone. Winn had been one of those who was with her from step one to here – he would know best.

And he did. Otherwise, he wouldn't have agreed when she had requested him at the funeral. She could see it on his face – the wait and the understanding.

"And here we are," he whispered.

All those years ago, she would have expected his hands to start shaking. Maybe even a couple of sobs. But the future had really done him well, because his hands were steady and he still looked impeccably prepared. Then again, he had had years to prepare for this.

She reached out for his free hand and held it tightly. "You've been a really good friend, Winslow Schott Jr."

* * *

Cliff of Moher was humid this time of the year. Hot and humid. She sat at the cliff, legs hanging over the edge and dangling every once in awhile.

After Winn had injected the Kryptonite into her veins – he somehow managed to render the whole experience painless – and they had said their proper goodbyes, she came back to her time and went straight to the last leg of her trip. She and Lena had gone to many places together, either for pleasure or business or both, and this place remained her favorite.

Her adulthood had been wrought with a lot of chaos and loudness. There would always be one crisis after another. It almost felt like she could never catch a break until she got to go home to her wife and cuddle up to Lena. But then the universe had taken that away from her too.

Cliff of Moher had been the only place that could…give her some sense of serenity. Every time she felt a little too much and she knew that even going home wouldn't help, she would fly here and just sit here. No one would see her. No one would know that she was here. She could just watch the occasional whale making an appearance and listened to the callings of the seas.

Her arms started to weaken and she released her hold on them to lie back on the grass, diverting her vision from rippling waters to the cloudy sky that always plagued Ireland. She stared at one particular cloud.

"That's a cupboard."

 _Nah, that's a tree_.

She blinked a few times and looked to her left and right. But Alex wasn't there. She took in a few deep breaths and gulped.

"It's a cupboard," she insisted.

 _What are you talking about? It's obviously a tree_.

Oh Rao, she was so tired. Maybe it was a tree. Maybe Alex was right. After all, her sister was rarely ever wrong. Her sister was the second smartest person in her life. Her sister taught her everything she knew, from being human to fighting. From compassion to toughness. Alex Danvers taught it all. Alex Danvers was amazing.

She could almost feel it. The sleep coming to her. In the back of her woozy mind, she knew that this would be the last time she fell asleep. And then Winn would show up with his team and they would quietly transport her body back to the empty grave that she had bought to fake her own death to not raise suspicions. She would go back to where she belonged. Beside her family.

Her body had never felt so heavy. There was nothing else she could do but breathe now. So that was what she did. She breathed. And with each breath, the ache that had been adding weight to her chest began to loosen up, letting her go from its insidious grip that had taken hold and tightened since the love of her life died.

And then, when the breath she took felt light and no longer painful, she knew that was it. She closed her eyes and pitch black sank in. She was so tired.

"Hey, darling."

She groaned, tilting her head aside in complaint. She still wanted to sleep.

There was a low chuckle. Familiar. Husky. "Kara, baby, open your eyes."

Limber fingers began to card through her hair and she sighed, wanting to sleep further into the touch, but the voice was so persuasive. Slowly, her eyes opened and looming over her was someone she didn't think she'd ever see again.

She stared for a long while before a true smile – one that she hadn't do in a long time – spread across her lips.

"Lena."

"Welcome home, baby."

* * *

_Supergirl's friendship with Lena Luthor had often been flummoxing to the public, especially to the supporters of alien rights. Some was approving, and others called National City's resident superhero a blood traitor (Howard 2256; Jameson 2672). Not even when Luthor died from pancreatic cancer did the world truly forgive her family's sins against the aliens._

_However, it was when the world found out that Supergirl was actually Kara Danvers, the infamous reporter who broke Fire-gate and Lena Luthor's widow, that it stopped being so flummoxing. With the discovery of Supergirl's identity, bits and pieces of their love for each other began to come together – and their relationship became the story of the decade, if not the century, looked up to by many and admired by most (Ericson 3471)._

_Danvers' relationship and subsequent marriage with Luthor was not phenomenal just because they were the most powerful lesbian couple in the_ _**world** _ _during that time. Undeniably, they created waves and triggered generations of same-sex relationships (Olsen 2713). But theirs was phenomenal because Supergirl and Lena Luthor did not only save the world numerous times, they did it while facing prejudice from both sides – alien loving and otherwise – each side calling them blood traitors._

_If anything, their partnership, regardless of the affections they held for each other, did the world a lot of good._

_Nevertheless, it is important to note that Luthor's death left a lasting impact on Supergirl, so much so that she disappeared into thin air for an entirety of a year._

_In one of Danvers' love notes to Luthor, believed to be an anniversary card in 2025, it read:_

" _We've been married for five years, and you'd think I'd be bored of you. But no, I'm still so very in love with you that sometimes I can't breathe. Remember when I said I'm not sure if the Danvers name deserves you? Well, now I'm sure it doesn't. Instead, the Danvers-Luthor name is the most deserving of you and your big heart. You are my biggest hero, Lena Danvers-Luthor."_

_(Excerpt from_ _**A Luthor and a Super: Who Would Have Thought?** _ _by_ _**Irene Wayne** _ _)_

**Author's Note:**

> this will most likely be the last installment, unless you people manage to come up with a prompt that's really really good and will make me cry even when i'm writing it.
> 
> now, onwards to another angsty prompt!
> 
> guys, i'm in a bit of a situation here and it's becoming a little difficult for me to get it together and i could really use your help, visit my [tumblr](http://overcanary.tumblr.com/post/180468208042/taking-commissions-caffeinate-me) to learn the full story :) thank you!


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